First let me address something that has been bothering me for almost the entire time it has been my pleasure to be invovlved with the blog: anonymity. A lot of folks are taking cheap shots at those who did not fill out the dean's evaluations. Some who did not participate claimed their lack of participation was out of a fear of retribution. Let me note that practically everyone who participates in this blog does so anonymously. We fear for our jobs, our reputations and our futures. It will be difficult to move forward if we are unable or unwilling to have real discussions without such fears. The blog won't cease to publish your responses, but a few names would be nice. Also, you all know who I am, so if you have a problem, come see me. I don't hide and neither should you.
On a more positive note, the new contract will be unveiled on Monday. It has been a long four plus years, especially for those involved in the negotiations. Thank you for your efforts.
You have received an e-mail about the state legislature. Please respond. The boys and girls in Columbus seem to be trying to get SB5 passed under the table. I have been here almost 28 years and can say with confidence that I would be making considerably less money without a union. I can also say administrators would be making even more.
Please continue to respond to the dean evaluations listed below.
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A MUST READ FOR ALL ACADEMICS! Now on Amazon Kindle. Click on Professor Goat above to be directed to the book.
DON'T BE A SHEEP
UT's Officially Disapproved Information Source and HISTORICAL ARCHIVE. The only source of truth, where Paradox Manifests: Hundreds of thousands of visits. Yet No One Admits to Reading It. Welcome to the "Grey Area" where "Unethical Utterances," i.e., criticisms of administrators, are commonplace. Make U.U. here where genuine civility still reigns, a.k.a., freedom......................... UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO'S EQUIVALENT TO RADIO FREE EUROPE
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HARD EIGHT
Hard Eight: Auto-Ethnographic Essays on Academic Culture Featuring the End of the Arts & Sciences College, University of Toledo, 2010
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Swamp Bubble
Do you agree or disagree that University of Toledo suffers from administrative bloat?
How do you feel about the proposed UT Degree Guarantee program? (Reposted to allow more people to vote.)
How do you feel about the proposed UT Guarantee program?
How would you grade the overall performance of the Jacobs' administration on running the University of Toledo?
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
Bloggie applauds this perspicacious observer:
"The administration is in a panic mode to implement controversial and irreversible structural and curricular changes campus-wide by early February fiscal plan deadlines with only the vaguest notions of their impacts. The plan is, according to an interview with a top administrator published in the most recent Independent Collegian, to cast out many seeds and "see what grows." This experimental garden, as most senators articulated in many different ways, seems a costly recipe for disaster. Utter madness. Stay tuned."
Print Version of Dictionary of Academia Available on Amazon.com
The profound ruminations of the goaty Sage are now available in this 119 page satirical masterpiece. See: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1480292494/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B009RC0SJA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JV8N5BYAYY9WC9SJWD2
"Dictionary of Academia" Read it While it's Hot
A MUST READ FOR ALL ACADEMICS! Now on Amazon Kindle. Click on Professor Goat above to be directed to the book.
Comment of the Week
"This is that old tension between the corporate way of doing things and the academic way of doing things. In the corporate world, you sweep everything under the rug to make your b.s. as shiny, pleasing to the nose, and profitable as possible. In the academic world, you operate with a higher moral standard. Veritas and all that."
Comment of the Week of August 13
Re UT academic posers and hypocrites:
Have their checks calculated in units of postmodern theoretical currency and issued in photocopied legal tender notes signed by Walter Benjamin with a photo of Karl Marx and a seal stamped “In Derrida We Trust”.
Comment of the Era
Wow! Ain't that something.
-Anonymous
Comment of the Week
Mention goes to the the anonymous commentator of Feb 7, who, regarding UT President Llloyd Jacob's "Investing in Faculty" letter, stated: "If we could use the same criteria for 'investing in administrators' we could cut most of those positions."
Comments to HLC
Make sure you address your comments to HLC to the email address listed below in the "Higher Learning Commission Wants to Know" post. This may be the only chance you have to be heard. Bloggie hears that UT administration has discussed giving faculty "training" so that faculty members know how to "properly" talk to the HLC folks. How's that for stacking the deck? Does everyone get a little script to read? Make sure you practice before a mirror at being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Comment of the Week!
Definitely, the Comment of the Week award goes to Anonymous 12:14 pm, Dec 3, under the "Higher Learning Commission Needs to Know" posting by Diogenes. Pithy and pointed!
--Love,
Bloggie
MESSAGE OF THE DAY:
DON'T BE A SHEEP
Independent Collegian Article on Dicey Administrative Spending
IC reporter Casey Cheap looks at bow ties, apartments and movie tickets purchased by UT administrators at university/public expense. See
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Letter and Petition from Foreign Languages Faculty Member
A couple weeks ago, at the beginning of summer break, we in the Department of Foreign Languages were informed that our secretary's position was being eliminated and that while she will not lose her job (she'll be transferred), that position is not to be filled. We apparently will be expected to do our own jobs plus what we can of the secretary's. That is clearly not acceptable, and so one of the steps we in FL are taking against it is an online petition now available for any who want to (including those who for whatever reason--not a registered Ohio voter, not a US citizen, etc.--cannot sign the petition against SB5), to read and sign.
I know not everyone on the blog will be interested in this; I'm not asking anyone who doesn't want to, to sign or even read the petition. I do think that there are many who would be interested and would want to sign it--if they knew about it.
It's scary to post this under my own name; I'm as afraid as anyone of repercussions. But this is simply too important to keep quiet on, and we have to do something! FL is not the first department that this has happened to, and it's almost certain not to be the last if we don't speak up in a way that the administration will hear us and in a way that makes clear that other people are seeing that it's going on.
Here's the link to the online petition:For those who can make it, there will also be an informational meeting--including lunch and petition-signing--next Friday, May 27 in FH 2420, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
I know not everyone on the blog will be interested in this; I'm not asking anyone who doesn't want to, to sign or even read the petition. I do think that there are many who would be interested and would want to sign it--if they knew about it.
It's scary to post this under my own name; I'm as afraid as anyone of repercussions. But this is simply too important to keep quiet on, and we have to do something! FL is not the first department that this has happened to, and it's almost certain not to be the last if we don't speak up in a way that the administration will hear us and in a way that makes clear that other people are seeing that it's going on.
Here's the link to the online petition:For those who can make it, there will also be an informational meeting--including lunch and petition-signing--next Friday, May 27 in FH 2420, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Katherine Best
Wave of the Future or Merely Sometime Later This Week?
The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a deeply fascinating article called, "When to Dissolve a Faculty Senate." Apparently this is any time that it becomes "adversarial" to administration.
The online comments to the article are priceless.
Nemeth on Mammon in IC
David Nemeth's most recent tour-de-force
Professor Nemeth has another fabulous and timely article in the new and increasingly wonderful Independent Collegian. See http://www.independentcollegian.com/forum/the-kraken-attacks-1.2340091
Nemeth Does it Again
See the forum article in The Independent Collegian at:
Nemeth's New Article in Collegian
The Independent Collegian has run another of Professor Nemeth's fine and provocative articles in its latest edition. This one discusses the double-talk by mouthpieces for the current UT administration concerning the effects of and reasons behind so-called strategic reorganization. Make sure you get the latest version of Newspeak 5.1 if you want to decode what UT administrators are really saying.
UT Ranks 13th Nationally on Administrative Bloat
See Appendix B of the Administrative Bloat report posted on 8/28 for evidence, but UT now has a higher proportion of administrators to students than all but 12 public universities in America. President Jacobs has finally put University of Toledo in the top tier. With Strategic Organization he may be aiming for number one.
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Recent Letters from The Blade
Jacobs' arrogance is astonishing
Recently, President Lloyd Jacobs of the University of Toledo stated that bonuses were justified because his administrators "took all the risks."
As a professor at UT, I am outraged that President Jacobs claims that administrators take all of the risks. What risks do they take that the other faculty and staffs on campus do not?
Administrators are protected by state and federal employment laws and by their contracts.
When ex-President Vik Kapoor was terminated, he remained a professor with a salary near what he was paid as president.
As president emeritus, Dan Johnson retained a salary greater than his pay as president.
In the recent layoffs, exceptionally few administrators were terminated. It seems to me that low-level personnel at UT have far more risks because the greater proportion of the layoffs have come from their ranks. And they did not have continuing salaries.
President Jacobs' answer to questions on two occasions regarding relinquishing part of his bonus was to the effect that he earned his bonuses and what he did with them was his business.
Administrators do not risk their personal money in their duties: they use taxpayer money and funds collected through donations and grants to the university.
Administrators take home salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and then add bonuses for longevity and whatever else the president decides is fitting for their contracts.
However, the lower-level personnel have much lower salaries and no such bonuses. Where is the risk?
It seems to me that these bonuses are convoluted: The lower-level personnel are taking the greater risks with no bonuses while the administrators with very rewarding jobs with little risk receive large bonuses.
Am I missing something here?
WALTER W. OLSON,
Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing
Engineering,
University of Toledo
It's the same old, same old at UT
I could hardly believe the arrogance of Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, president of the University of Toledo, when a reporter asked if he would be willing to forgo his bonus in light of the layoffs, raise in tuition, etc.
His comment was that he worked for it. Is that to say that the ones being laid off did not work for their pay?
All I can say is, business as usual at UT. Some things never change.
SANDY FLICK
Rose Acres Drive
UT also has checks, balances
In response to letter titled "Professors must focus on teaching," I would like to point out that the University of Toledo operates on the basis of shared governance.
This means that faculty members participate in the administration of the university.
A focus on teaching requires faculty to address administrative issues such as policies, procedures, and yes, finances, because these all affect classroom outcomes. A university with solid and equitable finances benefits everyone, including and especially the students. Just as the U.S. government is constituted to have checks and balances, so is our university government.
The UT-AAUP is one of those checks against UT administrators who most recently have displayed more concern for their own profit rather than a concern for the common good.
LINDA M. ROUILLARD,
Associate Professor
of French,
University of Toledo
Quote of the Year (so far)
The following is excerpted from the recent UT AAUP newsletter concerning the official university response to news of the bonus scandal:
. . . . Either Jacobs is misleading the media or he has misled the Board of Trustees. President Jacobs objected to "the general tone" of the UT-AAUP Newsletter. Many persons on this campus object to the "general tone" of the Jacobs Administration. During his tenure as President, he has introduced an administrative culture of fear and intimidation. . . . A point of logic must be raised here, with all respect to UT AAUP, the conclusions that President Jacobs has (1) misled the media and (2) the Board of Trustees are not mutually exclusive. Both would seem likely given his considerable talent at spinning "visions." |
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22 comments:
The union reps haven't even been allowed to see the entire contract and yet a vote has been scheduled this week. Changes to workload are promised to be "minor."
It's a BAD contract, attempting to take advantage of the SB5 language added to a bill last week and the fatigue faculty feel from the last 4 years with no new contract. For many members, the increase in health care costs will exceed or barely be covered by the pay boosts. Do the math carefully - you might actually vote "yes" to lowering your take home pay. The admin couldn't even bring itself to reinstate merit pay for the three years of the contract.
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Healthcare
The members' share of health insurance will rise to 20% of the total premium cost. There will be a 15% cap on year-to-year increases in premiums; this cap is currently lower, varying from 9% to 14.5%, depending on which plan you are on.
Workload
There are "some changes to Article 10: Workload." These were not clarified, so we do not know what impact they may have. We are told they are "minor" overall, but I do not know what to make of that. To clarify: reps were not shown the contract language -- none of it.
There are significant changes with regard to summer employment. The previously-proposed administration cap of $8400 on summer employment was dropped; summer pay will still be the same percentage of annual salary. However, the new wording puts FTT/FTT-T on an equal footing with lecturers for summer employment.
Salary
$1500 one-time "back-pay" payment. This is to be paid within 30 days of ratification of the contract. This $1500 does not go to base; it is a one-time payment and thus does not affect percentage raises (see below).
AY 2014-15: $2000 added to base salary. This is intended to help cover the additional cost of health insurance.
AY 2014-15: a 2.7% across-the-board raise. We are told this 2.7% will be calculated after the $2000 is added to base.
AY 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18: 2% across-the-board raise per year
There is little change in the salary floors by rank; floors are to be met, however, before percentage raises are applied.
The contract article on merit is still intact, but there is to be no merit salary awarded during the contract period, AY's 2014-15 through 2017-18.
This is ridiculous, we are to vote on a contract that we are not allowed to see?!?
We are fools to follow blindly. The UT-AAUP appears to be less than honest!
Tenure track need to consider carefully the change to summer employment. With lecturers on equal footing, expect to be working less during the summer, depending on how many lecturers are in your dept. Failing to win a flat rate for summer classes, the admin is looking to save money in the summer by ensuring lower paid lecturers will be working as much or more than FTT.
is the contract proposal being shown to union members so that they can make an informed decision on their vote?
Faculty who are in departments with lecturers will bear the brunt of this "compromise." And some faculty, in departments with many lecturers, may actually see their yearly take home pay reduced, as a result of their losing summer pay. Faculty with high salaries, of course, will not feel the pain nearly as much as faculty in the 50-70k range. Given the reduction in summer classes, any department with 10 or more lecturers may limit summer opportunities to 1 class every 3 or so years, if your lucky. Take that 10 or 14k loss, do the math, and realize that you have just lost a few k with the "new" contract. I'm sure this is a minority of the faculty, and none of them will be at that "other" campus, but they were actually better off with the old contract.
Getting $2000 plus 2.7% added to the base does represent a net increase even after raise in health care costs, especially for those at the low end of TT faculty salaries (<$70k base). At current base of $70k that is a $4000 raise which is much higher then annual increase of employee share of heath care from 14 to 20%. But clearly does not make up for loss of annual increases in 2011, 2012 and 2013, which together could have been another 6% or more if past or proposed contract were in place. Also looks like this offer is little better then the one proposed early last fall. Impact on summer salary will be limited to those faculty (under 20% of total) who teach in summer, especially those at low end of salary who were able to add 1 or 2 courses and add $5000-12000 to base salary, but lets also remember that seniority was used to allocate summer teaching and thus many summer faculty were using the system to also max their annual net salary for retirement max benefits and adding $9000 ++++ to their base each summer. Perhaps not a great contract but then again when does one side, especially employees ever come off as the big winner in these deals? Look around folks, pay cuts and position losses are happening all over higher ed in this country, and even here at UT watch to see how many fewer TT faculty are at UT in recent years and also within the next few years after this wave of retirements is felt and we fall way short of 1:1 replacements.
My department has 3 or 4 TT who only approach the 70k threshold WITH summer pay. So this new contract, to quote our former President, 'throws them under the bus.'
Has anyone actually seen the full proposed contract??
Under this contract a base salary of $50k back pay will increase that to $53,400; at $60k back pay increases that to $63,674, so at either increase of $3400 to $3674 those easily cover the HC increase from 14% share to 20% share, still leaving net gain to base pay. Again not enough to make up for no raises in 2011, 2012 and 2013, but the idea that faculty will make less under this contract with base salary increases all lost to HC increased costs is simply not true. And removing seniority and setting summer teaching budget will actually re-allocate teaching summer stipends to lower paid TT faculty or instructors - in other words those who need the money the most and not many senior faculty already making $90k+ who have been teaching summer and taking money opportunities from lower paid faculty.
How is someone at $60,000 getting a 6% raise retroactive to August 2014 plus one time $1500 bonus being "thrown under the bus" by this contract? With the increase in health care costs they still end up with increase in pay, this may not be a great contract but is it really worthy of that comment?
Also, in this contract the new floor for Asst. Prof. is $54,000--something that hasn't been mentioned much. So those t-t under $54,000 should see a significant raise. My understanding is that salaries will be moved to the floor first, and then the $2000 and 2.7% will be added, bringing these people to (roughly) $57,500. So this is a very good contract for those of us at the bottom end.
If you make 60K and are in a department with lecturers AND counted on summer teaching to make ends meet then you've been thrown under the bus, because your not going to be teaching as much in the summer and the 2k and 1500k won't offset the yearly loss in summer teaching. Some departments, like math, have a dozen or more lecturers. The previous contract stipulated that faculty receive summer teaching FIRST and then anything left over went to lecturers. The new contract stipulates lecturers are now on equal footing with TT for summer slots. I'm sure this will impact only a very small number of TT in only a few departments, but there are departments out there with a bunch of lecturers and the TT in those departments will feel the crunch, especially if they are the bottom end. In other words, if you have been teaching regularly in the summer and have lecturers you will not be teaching regularly in the summer anymore and the loss of that money won't be offset by the salary bumps in the new contract. You will actually be taking home LESS money after the new contract goes into effect.
So regular faculty making $60k need summer teaching to make ends meet (that is a pretty good salary especially compared to a low cost of living in Toledo), yet instructors at $45k can do without extra summer teaching pay? Perhaps this should be less about who needs the money and more about the summer courses needed and the students taking them? Sorry but it is hard for me to feel for a few TT faculty already making $60k, no contract is equitable and fair to all.
Given that this is the first time in the history of this university that a contract has stipulated that TT and lecturers will be on equal footing in being assigned summer courses, I'd say it is a big deal. And for the small number of TT faculty at the bottom of the salary hierarchy who have been relying on summer teaching for 20 years, I'd say it's a big deal for them too. And as far as lecturer loads and salaries go, that is negotiated in a separate contract. What you have now is a first - contractual language that essential treats lecturers and TT as equal. My guess is the lecturers are celebrating this as a two fold victory - more opportunity to earn extra money teaching in the summer and one more small step toward erasing the distinction between tenured lecturer positions and TT faculty, at least as far as access to classes goes. One small step...
Seems to me the admin is attempting to reduce summer costs by employing more lecturers and trying to make out like it cares about lecturer salaries by throwing them a bone from the TT food pile. Win/win for admin.
Let's keep in mind that the contract offer presented to UT AAUP last fall only capped summer teaching salaries at $2500 per credit hour and did not open opportunity for lecturers to teach over TT faculty. If you have problems with this most recent offer and how it may be worse then that offer take your concerns up with UT AAUP since they do work for your interests. If majority of TT and lecturer faculty are better off with this deal, and some dependent on summer teaching are worse off, blame UTAAUP as they agreed to this deal.
The new contract language states that summer classes should be offered to lectures on an equal footing with TT so long as lecturers are qualified to teach the courses. I'm pretty sure each department establishes its own criteria for what lecturers are "qualified" to teach, regardless of their having a PhD or not. For example, I don't think there are any departments on campus that allow lecturers to teach 4X classes or classes required for the major or even 3X classes, generally. In other words, even in departments with a lot of lecturers, the contract has a loophole included that will still favor TT, if summer course offerings are exclusively or almost exclusively 3X and 4X courses and courses to satisfy the major. However, a department like math may be "thrown under the bus," as it's possible most or all of the courses they offer in the summer are lower level math courses - courses which are always taught by lecturers in the fall and spring.
Anyone seen the actual contract? Any word on results of the vote??
Progress report on the results of the faculty vote on the proposed UT-AAUP contract: The AAUP negotiation team will meet with its legal eagles on Monday, May 4th, to discuss the terms of the final contract and the official results of the recent vote. If their meeting goes smoothly, UT-AAUP rank and file will be updated and informed soon thereafter. Why the secrecy and delays? My take is that negotiators on both sides are lawyered up to the gills and have been too hogtied by legalities to trot out any update for public consumption till next week. Stay tuned.
And what if the vote by the members was in the majority yes, and UT AAUP leadership and their lawyers are not pleased with the contract language? What then?
Guess we don't need to post the Dean's evaluation on YouCollege:
http://www.toledoblade.com/Education/2015/05/07/Review-ends-with-UT-firing-4-employees.html
The Ed dean needs to be fired next! What is taking so long?
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